Spring is on here in St. Louis and I've been hard at work in the garden. I'm growing organic food and flowers to share with our North St. Louis neighborhood. The goal is to help residents learn more about self sufficiency, the benefits of organic methods, and clean, delicious eating.
I also love beautifying my 'hood. Glorious things can spring even in areas long deemed to be derelict.
My neighbors, helpers, and I were blessed this spring to start receiving some help from other local businesses that also want to do good in St. Louis.
St. Louis Composting donated a full load of compost. The city compost piles were low this spring and none was available. The grand plans of enriching and growing in several new areas of our lot couldn't happen without compost which is essential to feeding plants naturally with beneficial microbes, nutrients, and organic matter. St. Louis Composting was kind enough to supply all we needed for this spring. Thanks to them our melon patch is sprouting right now with Organic Sweet Dakota Rose Watermelons, Charentais Melons, and honeydews. A second plot is still in the works for corn, squash, and okra - progress mainly held back by the fact that a sidewalk and a bunch of brick were buried in that area and had to be dug up. Digging up bricks is some of the most miserable digging you can do, but we're just about done.
 |
| Raspberry bushes and the new melon patch. |
Rolling Ridge Nursery also gave us some of their distressed plants. We're tickled to finally have some strawberries! Some impressive rosemary plants, herbs, and onions also wandered our way. All will go in the ground this coming week. Many of the plants carried by Rolling Ridge are from small nurseries and greenhouses and they also had a lovely supply of native Missouri and prairie wildflowers. As I learned from Deanna English of AdventureFarms.org a few weeks ago, native plants are especially important for keeping bees and other pollinators happy. They are also usually quite low maintenance, as they are wild plants. This is a huge plus if you are sporadic about watering or just want something that will need little care.
We still have more to do, and our best flowers haven't even started blooming yet but there is lettuce, chard, the peas are starting to produce, and the leeks are starting to flower which is a pretty sight.
Enjoy your virtual trip through the garden...
 |
| Oak leaf red lettuce |
 |
| Red stem chard, fennel, and a view of our more established plot |
 |
| Witerbi Mangold chard |
 |
| A view from the front |
 |
| Snap peas blooming |
 |
| A baby raspberry bush |
 |
| Slightly bigger raspberry bush |
 |
| Leek just starting to flower |
 |
| Leek flower buds |
 |
| Ladybug on a radish blossom |
 |
| Early Jersey green cabbage |
All garden photos in this post taken by and copyrighted by Julie Longyear, 2013.
Welcome, I'm Julie Longyear.
